The present invention is directed to the field of waste reduction. More particularly, the present invention is directed to solar compost unit designed to reduce multiple types of waste products into useful end products.
Waste disposal is becoming a burgeoning problem for our society. Land fills are threatening to burst at the seems, while manure from dairy farms, pig farms, poultry farms, and sheep ranches creates significant additional disposal problems. On top of these waste issues, food waste from restaurants, school cafeterias, and the like, are attractive to vermin and breeding grounds for insects. In spite of efforts to recycle newspapers, other forms of waste paper are contributing significantly to the waste management issues at disposal sites. Finally, waste from grape processing plants, both juice producers and wineries, afford challenges of disposal that have not yet been adequately addressed by existing systems.
It is estimated that between 50 and 80% of materials finding their way to land fills/garbage dumps would be suitable for recovery through composting. In addition, the thousands of tons of manure and grape waste could be converted to useful end products through composting. Many composting systems in use today are extremely slow and only partially effective in converting organic waste into useful fertilizers. It is an object of the present invention to provide a composting system which can convert these multiple types of organic waste into useful fertilizers in a shortened period of time (in weeks rather than months).
The solar composting assembly of the present invention comprises a cylindrical drum having a first receiving end for receiving material to be composted and a second discharge end for delivering the composted material, the cylindrical drum having a first longitudinal axis, material advancing means within the cylindrical drum for advancing the material to be composted through the cylindrical drum; support means holding the cylindrical drum in a fixed axial position while permitting rotation about the first longitudinal axis; drive means to rotate the cylindrical drum about the first longitudinal axis; whereby when the drive means rotates the cylindrical drum about the first longitudinal axis, the material advancing means moves the material to be composted from the first receiving end to the second discharge end. The solar composting assembly further comprises a partially arcuate solar reflector lying beneath a portion of the cylindrical drum, the solar reflector having a polished upper surface for capturing solar radiation and reflecting the solar radiation onto an outer surface of the cylindrical drum. Preferably, both the cylindrical drum and the solar reflector being made of stainless steel, the drum having a blackened outer surface to increase the amount of solar radiation retained by the cylindrical drum which is reflected by said solar reflector and gathered by the upper surface thereof. The support means preferably comprises a plurality of rollers underlying the cylindrical drum and the drive means comprises motor means for rotating at least some of the plurality of rollers. In addition, the drive means includes a reversible motor capable of rotating said cylindrical drum in either rotational direction and a plurality of friction-enhancing bands extending about the cylindrical drum in positions to be engaged by the plurality of rollers rotated by the drive means. The solar composting assembly includes control means for determining when and in what direction to rotate the drive means. Subterranean conduits for collecting and conveying liquids produced by the composting assembly are provided.
Various other features, advantages, and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent after a reading of the following detailed description.